On January 8, 2012, US District Judge Robert Bryan sentenced 27-year-old Francis “Schaeffer” Cox to almost 26 years in prison, in most part for a conspiracy to commit murder charge the prosecution, led by Asstistant US Attorney (AUSA) Steve Skrocki, deceitfully sold to a jury as being Cox’s plan.

Now, 6 years later, revelations are exposing the system as the conspirators, having acted to frame the man who has sat confined in the Communications Management Unit (CMU) of the Federal Prison in Marion, Illinois.* The real story never made it to the people of Alaska and, more importantly, to the jury.

No one heard the truth of the government’s obsession with getting rid of Cox. They never got to read the investigating special agent’s emails saying Cox was not a threat, and that he had no real “intention.” The witness intimidation; the countless hours of audio recordings of Cox refusing to use violence; all were things the government skillfully covered up in order to get their man and paint the public perception that Cox was guilty, when in fact his only guilt was to speak out against a government that proved itself to be capable of entrapment.

“This case is by far the worst travesty of justice I have encountered in my 25-year legal career.” said Fairbanks attorney Robert John who was able to exonerate Cox of all charges in the Alaska State case. Writing in a press release in 2014, John lamented, “While our tradition applauds those who stand up and exercise their constitutional rights, the government’s new definition of terrorism condemns such patriotic actions, as this young Alaskan family man Schaeffer Cox, has unfortunately learned.”

A talented speaker and 2nd Amendment advocate, Cox was a skilled orator. After the 2008 election, he was traveling outside Alaska warning citizens in fiery speeches about the tyrannical path of the federal government. His speeches drew the attention of the FBI and on February 16, 2010, the FBI initiated a preliminary investigation. The next month, on March 25, 2010, an AUSA in Anchorage, Joe Bottini, determined that Schaeffer “has not crossed the line” between “protected speech” and “actionable threat.” Again, on April 4, 2010, that opinion was independently confirmed by another AUSA, Stephen Cooper, in Fairbanks who likewise agreed that legal action was inappropriate.

By every measure Cox was an outstanding citizen who had a reputation for helping others. Yet even after soliciting the opinion of two Assistant United States Attorneys, Bottini and Cooper, who each independently determined that legal action was not appropriate, the FBI continued to “investigate” him.

Schaeffer Cox, now 32 years old, is no longer the clean-cut “kid” he used to be – prison has changed that; his wrongful conviction has changed that. Sporting lengthy locks and a scruffy face, he looks more the part the government falsely portrayed him to be – the part of a ruffian ready to kill any and all federal, state, and local officials that stood in his way while he created a new America. It’s a part that, frankly, lacked any proof and only ever relied on circumstantial evidence and claims by government paid witnesses. But, Cox’s “investigation” and subsequent conviction have really formalized how the government attacks cases of “political” interest; those where the government decides they need to make an example out of someone, in order to make other people fall in line.

Law enforcement as a whole has moved away from the more observational type of investigating where they watch a person until that person commits a crime to a more proactive role as the one’s with the criminal plan, oftentimes selling it to unsuspecting “suspects” whose only “crime” beforehand was to speak what they believe by exercising their first Amendment rights. Quite frankly, most people only speak out against government abuse in their bedrooms and from behind closed doors; Schaeffer Cox chose the pulpit, making him the perfect patsy for the government to tell the budding patriot movement in Alaska, to back off.

The government enlists the aid of individuals who are typically facing criminal charges of their own, in exchange for greatly reduced or dismissed charges, as well as pay. These people are often nefarious in their own right and have usually been involved in crimes of dishonesty. You know, the perfect type of person you’d want to be a witness against you – nothing to lose and everything to gain by framing you. These people are known as Confidential Informants (CIs) or Confidential Human Sources, and in Cox’s case there were two main CIs: Gerald “JR” Olson and William “Bill” Fulton.

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